Substitute parts OK for regs service?

Jamr · Feb 5, 2011

Hi

I recently took my Dive Rite regs into my local dive shop for servicing (shop not a Dive Rite dealer and was chosen for convenience). When I picked them up they told me they had substituted some parts due to difficulty in sourcing the genuine Dive Rite rebuild kit.

I think the parts they substituted were in one of the 2nd stages (main or alt air) and were apparently intended for a Boss-branded 2nd stage (which they told me were just rebranded Dive Rite regs).

Should I be concerned that they have used the Boss parts, rather than the genuine parts?

herman · Feb 5, 2011

It's no big deal in my opinion but it does surpize me somewhat, most shops will not do so for "liability" reasons. Like so many things these days, often the difference in 2 different brand items is the final stage where they decide which package it goes in, brand X or brand Y. A while back I compaired 2 original Apexs HP stages with ones from a Promate reg, a rebranded reg from the same OEM that makes DR. I could find no differneces at all in them, including checking them with a micrometer. Is it possible they are a differnet material, sure but they do the same job in a very similar design so I see no reason they should not work.
For what it's worth there a a bunch of rebranded regs on the market today- Dive Rite being one of them, that all come from one factory. Since they are all the same basic design (Apeks clone) to you really think a "keep it as low as possible" cost manfacturer is going to use different internal parts that no one but a tech sees?

Welcome to the board. If you read the DIY section you will soon learn scuba regs are not magic inside and are actually fairly simple, robust devices.

DiveGearExpress · Feb 5, 2011

For future reference, we offer authorized service on Dive Rite regs.

Just follow the instructions on the link below, and we'll take good care of you.
Regulator Service and Parts - Dive Gear Express

Our price includes all labor and the appropriate Dive Rite factory periodic service parts kit for each stage. If other parts are required, there will be additional charges for parts at Dive Rite suggested retail prices.

Jamr · Feb 6, 2011

herman:
It's no big deal in my opinion but it does surpize me somewhat, most shops will not do so for "liability" reasons. Like so many things these days, often the difference in 2 different brand items is the final stage where they decide which package it goes in, brand X or brand Y. A while back I compaired 2 original Apexs HP stages with ones from a Promate reg, a rebranded reg from the same OEM that makes DR. I could find no differneces at all in them, including checking them with a micrometer. Is it possible they are a differnet material, sure but they do the same job in a very similar design so I see no reason they should not work.
For what it's worth there a a bunch of rebranded regs on the market today- Dive Rite being one of them, that all come from one factory. Since they are all the same basic design (Apeks clone) to you really think a "keep it as low as possible" cost manfacturer is going to use different internal parts that no one but a tech sees?

Welcome to the board. If you read the DIY section you will soon learn scuba regs are not magic inside and are actually fairly simple, robust devices.

Thanks for the response Herman. Can you tell me if the material used in the parts would impact the regs suitability for Nitrox (b/c I know the Dive Rite regs are "nitrox ready", but have no idea about the Boss regs, as they seem to be pitched at the budget end and I can't get much detail on them).

Also, I have just noticed that I can freely inhale through my alt air with the dust cap tight on the 1st stage, which I can't do through my primary 2nd stage. My basic understanding of how a regulator works says this shouldn't be so. Am I correct?

Bubbletrubble · Feb 6, 2011

Jamr:
Also, I have just noticed that I can freely inhale through my alt air with the dust cap tight on the 1st stage, which I can't do through my primary 2nd stage.

Uh oh. You're going to have to troubleshoot that. Assuming that the dust cap is making an air-tight seal, being able to freely inhale on your alt air source could be caused by a bad/poorly installed/incorrect exhaust valve, bad/poorly installed/incorrect diaphragm, a bad/poorly installed/incorrect o-ring somewhere, or a crack in the case of the second stage (due to dropping it or over-torquing the LP reg hose/assembly nut). Go through the rest of the comprehensive pre-dive reg inspection to identify any other issues with the reg. You're probably going to have to take the reg back to the LDS that did the repair.

When overhaul kits are freely available online for purchase by the end user, I have to wonder how a LDS could complain about parts availability and then proceed to install unofficial parts into a reg without the customer's advance consent to make the substitution. That...combined with the failed vacuum test doesn't make me very confident that the reg setup has been serviced properly.

herman · Feb 6, 2011

Nitrox is kind of a yes/no answer. While nitrox will degrade buna-N (standard) orings faster than air the rate is such that it's not really an issue in normal dive service. Most manufacturers use viton to overcome this but the life of an oring is so much longer than the time between service it's not a big deal.

Your second stage should not leak air, you have a problem.

Jamr · Feb 6, 2011

Thanks all for the help ! Going to take it up with the shop that serviced them.

Dive Rite · Feb 7, 2011

Hi,

Although the Dive Rite reg does come from the same factory as some other regs on the market, we send the factory proprietary parts that other manufacturers do not use in their regs because we experienced less-than-adequate results with the factory-furnished parts. This has been the case almost since we launched the reg years ago.

Should be fairly easy to ascertain which are ours vs. theirs if you compare the internals of two different brands of regs. Because the external looks the same, everyone assumes we have the same "knock off" regulator.

As for the shop that cannot source our parts - we send parts kits out for free in exchange for the old kits and are concerned as we've not heard of Boss. Their parts are definitely not re-branded Dive Rite.

Our recommendation is to find a shop that is a Dive Rite dealer or send the reg to us. This piece of equipment is too critical to risk a poor service job. If you want to talk more specifics, please give Mike a shout at service@diverite.com and we'll be happy to help sort things out.

Kathleen

Substitute parts OK for regs service?

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